Winding tube

ABSTRACT

A winding tube for web material includes an elongated, hollow cylindrical tube body and at least one hollow cylindrical adapter. The adapter contacts a casing surface of the tube body substantially over the entire circumference along an axial portion of the tube body to fix the adapter against relative rotation. The adapter has an exterior diameter that does not exceed that of the tube body. The adapter is removable from the tube body without the adapter being destroyed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a winding tube for web-shaped materialshaving an elongated hollow cylinder tube body and at least one adapter,the adapter contacting a casing surface of the tube body substantiallyover the entire circumference along an axial portion of the tube body tofix the adapter against relative rotation, the adapter having anexterior diameter that does not exceed that of the tube body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Winding tubes are employed in the paper and printing industries,for example, for receiving webs of paper. A winding tube includes anelongated hollow cylinder tube body made of paper or cardboard.Recently, tube bodies extruded from thermoplastic materials have alsobeen used.

[0003] To wind the web material onto the winding tube, and unwind ittherefrom, the tube is mounted in a winding machine on chucks thatengage the ends of the tube body from the inside and permit torquetransfer through clamping means or via interlocking elements. It isknown to equip the ends of the tube body with adapters, such as metalend caps placed on the open ends of the tube body, to permit thedamage-free clamping of the relatively soft tube body.

[0004] DE 44 13 810 of Sonoco Products Co. describes a ring-shapedadapter glued to a tube body made of paper. The adapter includes atruncated conical outer surface received by a correspondingly conicallydesigned interior surface of the tube body end. The adapter reinforcesthe ends of the winding tube to better resist the clamping forces of awinding machine and also permits the use of a tube body whose interiordiameter is greater than the chuck of the winding machine.

[0005] Even with paper or cardboard tube bodies, which are relativelycheap to produce, there is an increasing desire to limit waste bydesigning the tube bodies for multiple uses. Costs for producing thetube body and adapter disclosed in DE 44 13 810, however, are increasedby the inclusion of the conical seat. Furthermore, the gluing of theadapter into the tube body prevents the further use of an adapter from adamaged tube body.

[0006] Plastic winding tubes are typically produced from simplematerials for reasons of cost. Such plastic tubes, however, aregenerally not able to withstand the high loads applied by the chucks.The production of winding tubes using high quality wear-resistantplastics capable of repeated usage is not feasible because of materialcosts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] It is an object of the invention to provide a winding tube thatcan be repeatedly used, is cost-effective to produce and is variable inuse. This object is attained by providing an adapter for a tube bodythat can be removed from the tube body without being destroyed. Twofunctions of the winding tube, namely holding the web material andtransferring torque from the winding machine, are separated in a simplemanner by making the adapter removable. Suitable materials can beselected for the tube body and adapter to provide the respectivefunctions. If one component fails, it is not necessary to replace theentire winding tube. Moreover, use of chucks of different sizes, or withdifferent interlocking elements, is possible in the course of windingand unwinding (i.e., producing and using) the same roll of web-shapedmaterial.

[0008] The adapter may be interlockingly connected to the tube body in asimple manner, particularly when a plastic material is used, byproviding meshing grooves and teeth on the contacting surfaces. Evenwhen using paper tube bodies, axial teeth arranged on a plastic adaptercan be pressed into the relatively soft material of the tube body toprovide interlocking torque transfer. The interlocked connection betweenthe adapter and the tube body is particularly advantageous with respectto the removal capability.

[0009] A frictional connection between the adapter and tube bodyadvantageously reduces manufacturing outlay. Such a connection can beaccomplished with a cylindrical contact face by inserting a cooledadapter into a tube body, which has been heated if required, to generatea shrink pressure in the area of the contact face and fix the tube bodyand adapter against relative rotation. In cases where only limitedtorque transfer is demanded, the fixation against relative rotation maybe assured by roughened surfaces in the manner of a micro-interlockedconnection. In case of special demands made on the winding tube,interlocked and frictional connections could be combined with each otherand could be reinforced using roughened surfaces.

[0010] Means for preventing axial displacement between the adapter andtube body are also provided in addition to the clamping effect betweenthe contact faces. In this manner, it is possible to apply axial forcesvia the adapter, to position the winding in a machine for example.Preferably, a radially protruding collar is provided for this purpose.

[0011] By matching the exterior diameter of the collar to the exteriordiameter of the tube body, the exterior casing surface of the collar maybe used as a winding surface. When transporting a winding designed inthis way, the wound-on web material additionally contributes to theaxial fixation of the adapter on the tube body. Recesses may be cut inthe front of the collar for affecting the cooling properties of thelatter.

[0012] Interlocking elements may be attached to the interior casingsurface of the adapter to provide for combination with different chucks.

[0013] When employing two adapters in accordance with the invention, atorque can be introduced at both ends of a winding tube. This isparticularly advantageous in connection with very long winding tubes,such as are used in the printing industry, for example.

[0014] The adapter is preferably made of a material of greaterresistance than the tube body. In this manner, the use of high-quality,and therefore expensive, materials such as highly wear-resistantplastics like fiber-reinforced polyamide, can be limited to relativelysmall components.

[0015] The adapter can be advantageously produced by means ofinjection-molding methods. In this way several complex characteristicsmay be formed in one work step including grooves and teeth in thecontact face, recesses in the end of the collar and interlockingelements on the interior casing surface.

[0016] The use of paper or cardboard for the tube body keeps productioncosts down and provides a supply of recycling materials for usefulpurposes.

[0017] The use of higher quality thermoplastic materials, such asstyrene butadiene, for the tube body is preferable when the contactfaces of the adapter and tube body are intended to have grooves andteeth. These interlocking elements can be directly formed duringextrusion of the tube bodies to extend over the entire length of thetube body. When produced by extrusion, the tube body can be made to anyarbitrary length depending on the requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a plan view on the front face of an adapter of a windingtube according to the invention;

[0019]FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view through one end of the windingtube of FIG. 1 showing the adapter mounted thereon; and

[0020]FIG. 3 is a section perpendicular to the axis through the windingtube of FIG. 1 showing the adapter mounted thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0021] A winding tube 1, whose one end is shown by of example in thedrawings, receives a web of newspaper print (not shown) approximately 3m in length for a rotary printing press (also not shown). An extrudedtube body 2, made of polystyrene having a density of 1.05 kg/dm³, has anexterior diameter 3 of 182 mm. The tube body 2 is provided at each ofits ends with an adapter 3. The adapter 3, having an interior diameter 5of 154 mm, is made by injection-molding fiberglass-reinforced polyamidehaving a density of 1.4 kg/dm³.

[0022] The tube body 2 has a trapezoidal interior tooth arrangement 6extending axially over its entire length and continuously around itscircumference. The tube body has an exterior diameter 3 of 170 mm and aninterior diameter 5 of 165 mm. The interior tooth arrangement 6 includesa tooth base 9 and a tooth crown 10 each having a width 11 of 5 mm inthe circumferential direction. Each of the teeth includes a profilehaving an inclination 12 of 39.1°.

[0023] The interior tooth arrangement 6 of the tube body 2 engages acorrespondingly mirror-reversed exterior tooth arrangement 13 of theadapter 3 in an exact fit having a radial play of between 0.2 to 0.4 mm.The adapter 3 includes three trapezoidal cams 14 having a width 15 of46.5 mm and an interior diameter 16 of 150 mm. The cams 14 extend in theaxial direction on the interior of the adapter 3 and arecircumferentially offset from each other by 120°. By means of thetrapezoidal cams 14, the adapter 3 can be matched to a chuck (not shown)that is standardized to fit the printing press.

[0024] The adapter 3 further includes a circumferential collar 17,having a length 18 of 20 mm in the axial direction, against which theend of the tube body 2 rests directly. The exterior diameter of thecollar 17 is matched to the exterior diameter 3 of the winding tube 1.The front face 19 of the adapter 3 has twenty-six recesses 20, evenlydistributed over the circumference. Each of the recesses 20 has a radialwidth 21 of 4 mm and an axial depth 22 of 12 mm.

[0025] To facilitate mounting of the adapter 3 on the tube body 2, aswell as of the winding tube 1 on the chuck (not shown), the tube body 2and the adapter 3 have been provided with conical mounting slopes 19, 24and 25 at their respective inlet ends.

What is claimed is:
 1. A winding tube for taking up a web material, thewinding tube comprising: an elongated hollow cylindrical tube bodyhaving opposite ends; and at least one adapter having a firstcylindrical portion received within one end of the tube body, theadapter including a series of radially projecting teeth extendingaxially along an outer surface of the first cylindrical portion, theseries of teeth being adapted for interfitting engagement with acorrespondingly formed series of grooves on an interior surface of thetube body.
 2. The winding tube according to claim 1, wherein the adapterincludes a second cylindrical portion connected to the first cylindricalportion, the second cylindrical portion having an outer diameter thatsubstantially matches an outer diameter of the tube body.
 3. The windingtube according to claim 1, wherein the adapter includes a secondcylindrical portion connected to the first cylindrical portion, thesecond cylindrical portion having an outer diameter that is greater thanan outer diameter of the first cylindrical portion such that a shoulderis defined by the second cylindrical portion, the shoulder contacting anend of the tube upon insertion of the adapter into the tube end.
 4. Thewinding tube according to claim 3, wherein the second cylindricalportion of the adapter includes a front face opposite the firstcylindrical portion and wherein a plurality of recesses are formed inthe front face.
 5. The winding tube according to claim 1, wherein theadapter comprises a hollow interior having an inner surface and at leastone interlock element formed on the inner surface, the interlock elementadapted to engage a chuck for transferring torque between the chuck andthe adapter.
 6. The winding tube according to claim 3 wherein each ofthe tube body and the first and second cylindrical portions of theadapter defines a tapered surface at a terminal end thereof.
 7. Thewinding tube according to claim 1, wherein the adapter is made from afiber-reinforced polyamide material.
 8. The winding tube according toclaim 1, wherein the tube body is made from styrene butadiene.
 9. Thewinding tube according to claim 1, wherein the series of grooves extendsalong the entire length of the tube body.
 10. A winding tube comprising:an elongated hollow cylindrical tube body having opposite ends anddefining an interior surface; and at least one adapter having a firstcylindrical portion defining an exterior surface received within one ofthe ends of the tube body, one of the adapter exterior surface and thetube body interior surface defining a series of circumferentially spacedteeth extending axially therealong, the series of teeth being adaptedfor interfitting engagement with a correspondingly formed series ofgrooves defined by the other of the adapter exterior surface and thetube body interior surface.
 11. The winding tube according to claim 10,wherein the series of teeth is defined by the adapter exterior surfaceand the series of grooves is defined by the tube body interior surface.12. The winding tube according to claim 10, wherein the adapter includesa cylindrical collar connected to first cylindrical portion, the collarhaving an outer diameter that is greater than an outer diameter of thefirst cylindrical portion.
 13. The winding tube according to claim 12,wherein the outer diameter of the collar substantial matches an outerdiameter of the tube body.
 14. The winding tube according to claim 10,wherein the adapter defines a substantially cylindrical inner surfaceand wherein the adapter further includes a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced interlock elements projecting inwardly from theinner surface for engagement with a correspondingly formed chuck.